scams rarely look like scams. They look like a friendly expert, a helpful agent, a new project with a great website, or a person you met online who seems to really care about you. Because crypto payments are final, the scammer only has to win once. This lesson shows seven common scams, what each one looks like, and the red flag that gives it away.
Before we start: what do you think?
A platform pays a guaranteed 2% per day on your deposit. Where does the money most likely come from?
✗ No strategy can promise 2% every day; even very good traders have losing weeks.
✗ Real lending pays a few percent per year, not 2% per day.
✓ Right: early users are paid with later users' money, until new deposits slow down and withdrawals stop.
✗ A token price is not income, and it can fall to zero the day people try to sell.
Why "guaranteed" is the most dangerous word
Before the list, one piece of maths. If anything really paid 2% per day, and you kept the money in, $1,000 would grow to about $1,811 in 30 days and to about $1.38 million in one year. No business on earth can pay that. When something promises it, the promise is the scam.
The seven scams
1. Pump and dump
What it looks like: a group chat or influencer says a small coin is "about to explode". Everyone is told to buy at the same time. The price jumps.
What really happens: the organisers bought earlier, at a low price. When the crowd buys and the price jumps, they sell to the crowd. The price falls back, often below where it started.
Red flag: pressure to buy a small coin right now, together with many others.
2. Rug pull
What it looks like: a new with a slick website, a big community and fast-rising prices. Sometimes it is copied from a real project.
What really happens: the creators hold most of the tokens, or control the money that lets people trade it. One day they sell everything or take that money and disappear. The token becomes impossible to sell.
Red flag: an anonymous team, a very new token, and no clear answer to "can I sell a large amount?"
Quick check
In a pump and dump, who sells at the top?
3. Fake "zero risk" arbitrage
What it looks like: someone explains that a coin costs a little less on one platform than on another. "Buy here, sell there, keep the difference. Zero risk." They offer to do it for you, or show you a special app.
What really happens: real price differences are tiny, short and taken by fast professional systems. The "special app" is usually fake. It shows growing profits on the screen while your deposit is already gone.
Red flag: the words "zero risk" next to the word "profit".
4. Guaranteed daily yield
What it looks like: a platform or app that pays a fixed 1%, 2% or 3% every day. The dashboard shows your balance growing. Early users can even withdraw small amounts, and they tell their friends.
What really happens: this is usually a Ponzi scheme. Old users are paid with new users' money. When new money slows down, withdrawals stop. Often you are then asked to pay a "fee" or "tax" before you can withdraw. That payment is lost too.
Red flag: a fixed daily return, and no clear answer to "who pays it?"
Quick check
A platform says you must pay a "tax" before you can withdraw your profits. What does that tell you?
5. Fake support accounts
What it looks like: you post a question about a problem with your . Within minutes, "support" sends you a private message. They are polite and fast. They send a link to "fix" or "verify" your wallet.
What really happens: the link asks for your , or asks you to approve a payment. Your wallet is emptied.
Red flag: support that contacts you first, in private messages, and anyone who asks for your seed phrase. Real support never needs it. (See Wallets, exchanges and keys.)
6. Romance and "investment friend" scams
What it looks like: a friendly person you met on a dating app, social media or a wrong-number message. They chat for weeks. They never meet on video, or always have an excuse. Then they mention that they make good money in crypto, and offer to show you how.
What really happens: they guide you to a fake platform. Your first small deposit shows a nice "profit", and you may even withdraw a little. Then they push you to put in more, sometimes borrowed money. When you try to take out a large amount, it is blocked. US consumer authorities put it simply: never mix online dating and investment advice.
Red flag: someone you have never met in person brings up investing.
Quick check
Someone you met online but never saw on video offers to teach you crypto trading. What should you assume?
7. Giveaway scams
What it looks like: a video, a post or a live stream, often with a famous face, says: "Send 1 coin, get 2 back. Limited time." Comments are full of people saying it worked.
What really happens: the famous face is fake or used without permission, and the comments are written by the scammers. Coins you send never come back.
Red flag: any offer that asks you to send crypto first to receive more.
The pattern behind all of them
Look at the seven red flags together. They come down to four questions:
- Is there pressure to act fast?
- Is a return promised or "guaranteed"?
- Did they contact me first?
- Do they want my seed phrase, or a payment before I get paid?
One "yes" is enough to stop. If you want to see the tricks from the other side, play our scammer game, where you run a fake channel and watch how trust is built.
Worked example: What a "2% per day" platform does with $1,000
Anna deposits $1,000. The dashboard shows 2% per day.
- After 30 days, the screen shows about $1,811.
- She withdraws $50. It arrives. She trusts the platform more and tells two friends.
- She tries to withdraw $1,500. The platform says she must first pay a 10% "tax", which is $150.
- She pays it. The withdrawal never comes, and the account is frozen.
The $1,811 was never real. Anna's real result: $1,000 + $150 − $50 = $1,100 lost.
Key takeaways
- If anything really paid 2% per day, $1,000 would become about $1.38 million in a year. That is why such promises are scams.
- and make money for insiders who sell to the crowd.
- Fake arbitrage and daily-return platforms show profits on a screen while your money is already gone.
- Real support never contacts you first and never asks for your seed phrase.
- Never mix online friendship, dating or giveaways with sending crypto.
Try this
Write the four questions from "The pattern behind all of them" on a small card or in a note on your phone. The next time anyone offers you a crypto opportunity, answer all four before you reply. Show the card to one family member who is curious about crypto.